With override defeated, proponents weigh options

Tuesday

May 15, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 15, 2007 at 3:18 PM

With outstanding absentee ballots totaling only five — not nearly enough to offset the 17 votes by which the question failed Monday — this year’s proposed Proposition 2 1/2 tax override appears officially defeated. But for proponents of the override, it’s not over yet.

In the case of Selectman Matt Vincent, he and his family had vowed to donate $5,000 to the Georgetown Peabody Library to restore monies cut in the case of the override failing. Now that it has failed, he is honoring that promise.

And he’s hoping that the other 1,266 Georgetown residents who voted “yes” for the override will take the money they would have spent on an increased tax rate and contribute that to the Georgetown Public Schools, he said Monday.

RELATED EDITORIAL: Time to unite

Here’s his request: “I am asking everyone in town that supported this override to also open their checkbooks and write a check to the Georgetown Public Schools for the amount that they would have paid had the override passed. We have an energetic new superintendent about to start, and I think we should send her an appropriate message that we in fact do care about the quality of our schools.

“We have only a limited time to try to keep our schools from further foundering,” he said. “On June 15, unless we step up with personal contributions, layoff notices will be sent out to several teachers.”

Had the $1,061,822 override passed, the estimated $9.32 fiscal 2008 tax rate would have gone up to $10.14 per $1,000, which would have represented an 82 cent per $1,000 increase.

For the average-valued home in Georgetown, the override passage would have meant an approximate $363 increase for fiscal 2008.

To donate to the schools, Superintendent Larry Borin said checks should be made out to the “Georgetown Public Schools,” and “Gift for Public School Donation Fund” should be written in the memo line. Checks can be dropped off or mailed to the Superintendent’s Office, 51 North St., Georgetown, MA 01833.

Weighing their options

But outspoken override proponent Elisabeth Tollman says she’s not sure if privately raising the money needed for town services is sending the right message.

She said she thinks the first move should be a recount, given the narrow, 17-vote margin by which the question failed. She said proponents of the override have discussed petitioning for a recount.

Additionally, Vincent said about 67 ballots registered as having no vote for the question. He said he’d like to be assured the scanning machines properly read those ballots.

But even if a recount showed the ballot question had passed, questions still remain as to whether improper wording of the question on absentee ballots could create a legal hurdle. The mistake necessitated a last-minute reprint of ballots last weekend, but due to the late change, the absentee ballots were not fixed, which could give cause for questioning the validity of those votes.

Meanwhile, Tollman discussed both sides of the issue of whether to promote private fundraising to offset the cuts.

“We don’t want these cuts to happen because we know how they’ll affect the town and the kids in the schools,” she said. She explained proponents were willing to pay a tax increase because they’d looked at the budget numbers and realized the dire consequence of not paying.

“On the other hand, I don’t think it’s correct for us to privately build the funds that everyone has the responsibility to pay for. I think that sends the wrong message. We are all one community and want to see proper town funding and school funding, which translates into our house values,” said Tollman.

“All of us need to participate in this. I would want to rethink this very carefully. I think it might be very problematic to do,” she said.

Tollman added she thinks the whole community should have to feel the pinch; otherwise this move would strengthen the divide between the yes and no voters.

But she hasn’t given up hope, she said.

“We’re clearly at the finish line. We’re close,” said Tollman of the narrow margin of failure and a voter turnout that was much higher than last year’s.

To compare, last year’s election saw a 35 percent voter turnout, with a school-only override defeated by 252 votes and a Bailey Lane Bridge funding override defeated by 534 votes.

This year 49 percent of voters turned out and the override was defeated by a much narrower 17-vote margin.

“We will build on that to see if we can pass the finish line the next time around,” said Tollman.

An opponent’s take

Outspoken override opponent Selectman Lonnie Brennan said he thought the override would have passed, but felt the reason it failed was that it had asked for too much.

“If it were just a little bit more reasonable I think more people would’ve come along,” said Brennan Tuesday.

He said while he had no personal problem paying a tax increase, he had a problem for those who couldn’t afford it.

“I have said this before this happened. I’ve got no problem personally. I just can’t inflict these kinds of excesses in spending on others who can’t afford them,” he said.

As for his feelings on the cuts town employees will see, Brennan said all non-school town employees saw a 4 percent raise last December retroactive to July 1, 2006, and he felt they wouldn’t go without a raise this year, either.

“Going forward, they just had a good raise at 4 percent and I do not expect that that will be repeated. However, I don’t see them going a year without any raise,” said Brennan. “That’s a matter for the three selectmen to decide after a review of our town finances.”